VanDread: Forgotten Memories
by TeutonicGuardian
Summary: What happens to our friends after the end of the 2nd Stage? What starts with a 'cryptic' Dream, may as well turn out to be a window to the past. New allies and foes wait for the Nirvana, which is about to embark on another adventure!
1. Prologue: Dreams

**VanDread: Forgotten Memories**

Hello Guys! I thought I'd give it a try to write a VanDread fic, which has been lurking around my mind for quite some time now.

The story takes place after the men and Dita return from Taraak.

Some characters may turn out OOC, but I hope I'll get the hang of that.

Please, Read and Review!

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><p><strong>Prologue: Dreams<strong>

"_You are, what you are... but you are not, what you think you are... you are incomplete. You do not know, what you are, but you need to remember. Remember the past you have forgotten, the people you've lost, the battles you have fought... Seek them! Seek the Crystals of Emeran, which carry the mark of your existence, to remember what you have forgotten. Seek the Obsidian Crystal of Mn'tha, to regain your strength... Hurry, earthborn! Or the future will fall into darkness."_

Hibiki awoke with a start, his heart beating fast and loud, his breath going ragged, his whole body shaking, sweat running from every pore of his body. Slowly, he looked around the room he was in, trying to calm himself down. His gaze was blurry, so he could not make out many things in the pitch-black room he was lying in.

It took him nearly two minutes, to calm down and his gaze to turn normal. He reached up to hold his head with one of his hands, as if he expected it to turn too heavy within a few seconds. Looking around in his room again, he finally managed to make out the more than spartan interior of the room, a wave of relief washing over his body, that he no longer was in that horrible place, where he had been in his dream.

The boy, pushing the blanket of himself, swung his legs to the side and sat up at the edge of his bed, his head again resting on his hands, as he tried to figure what exactly had just happened to him. But, no matter how hard he tried, he did not reach a conclusion. Finally deciding that neither thinking, nor going back to sleep would help him now, Hibiki Tokai stood up and got dressed.

With his destination in mind, he approached the door, which opened swiftly, then turned towards the left and headed for the elevator. Once he reached the elevator, it didn't take him long to reach the hangar, and walk up towards his "partner", the Paksis manipulated Vanguard he piloted, and easily the most powerful Close-Combat-Craft they had aboard the Nirvana, that is, if you ignored VanDread Dita's weaponry, and VanDread Meia's high-velocity ram.

However, before he could reach his Vanguard, the hangar doors opened again, and a new voice spoke up.

"Couldn't sleep as well?" the blue haired Dread Team Leader known as Meia Gisborn asked the boy, as she entered the hangar.

"No... well.. at least not until.." Hibiki started, but was interrupted by Meia within the second.

"A strange dream?" she asked, observing the boy as he stiffened, then sighed "It's similar to last time, isn't it? When we all had that same dream?"

He blinked a few times, then nodded, slowly "Yeah... but that voice... that wasn't the Paksis... What was that all about anyway?"

The dread leader crossed her arms, thinking for a moment "I'm not too sure, I remember a blur of images, and I think the voice said something about lost memories... One thing is clear, however."

"Huh?" was Hibiki's intelligent reply, as he waited for Meia to continue.

"That voice... was talking about you."

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><p>Okay, so much for the little Prologue.<p>

What is that meaning of the words Hibiki and Meia heard?

Why is it only Meia, who joins Hibiki at the Hangar?

R&R please!

Until next time!


	2. Contact

**VanDread: Forgotten Memories**

And here we go with the first chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Contact<strong>

_Emeran, Galagar System, over 100 years ago_

A groan escaped the man's dry lips, as he dragged himself closer to the shadow of an nearby rock, one of the few things around, that weren't sand, or trying to kill you. His body shook violently, as he started to cough, blood spilling out of his mouth, and soaking the interior of his helmet. Having lost a great deal of his strength, the arm that he had used to drag himself forward, gave in and the man collapsed to the ground.

The man let loose a cry of agony, as sand entered the wound on his chest. Everything that had happened, had been his fault, he knew that. The large wound he had suffered, his comrades death by the hands of the enemy, possibly even the loss of a whole fleet, if he would not be able to reach them via comm.

Gritting his teeth, he decided to put all of his remaining strength into his final task, and started to drag himself towards the rock again. Slowly but surely, he approached it, and finally, after some more agonizing minutes, reached the rock which offered protection from the hot sunlight. His arm reached up to grab a hold of the rock somewhere, and eventually, he managed to pull himself into a sitting position, turning to lean his back against boulder.

Once he had done that, his armored hand went to his right hip, where a small bundle was attached to his body-armor. He detached it, and placed it on his lap, before reaching up to his helmet, touching a certain place that would activate the distress beacon that was common with this kind of armor, then let his hand fall down to the side. The only thing left for him to do, was waiting. Aside of the energy blades embedded in the gauntlets, he was unarmed, and with his right shoulder immovable, and the large hole in his chest, there was no way he could fight off his enemies, if they were to reach him first. Too much of these _bugs_ venom had entered the wound, weakening the soldier to the point of near death.

"God..." he muttered "please... let the alliance troops reach me... before... the circle troops... do..."

Finally, the man's body gave in to exhaustion, and his eyes slid close as he lost consciousness.

On the far horizon, from the edge of the forest of which the soldier had come, a large shadow appeared. As it stepped out of the shadow of the woods, it took a distinct shape. An about 4 meters long, and 2 meters tall, four-legged insectoid, with a pincer-like mandible. Two red eyes on the side of it's head scanned the area ahead, until they fixed on a boulder in the distance.

A terrifying screech followed, as it called upon it's allies, having found what they were looking for. Soon, the edge of the forest was swarmed by more and more insectoids, waiting there impatiently, until a larger one appeared, part of it's body seemingly covered by metal. An armored and armed figure sat on top of it's head, taking out binoculars, to search the direction the first bug, as these insectoids were commonly called, had indicated. For a few moments, the bugs stopped all activity, until the humanoid being put away the binoculars, and raised it's voice.

"You found him... go. Kill him." a feminine voice said, a sadistic smile spreading behind the visor of the helmet.

Dozens, if not hundreds of screeches filled the air, as the bugs that had gathered at the forest's edge, charged out into the wasteland, heading for a single boulder, and the person resting in it's shadow.

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><p><em>Nirwana briefing room, Taraak and Mejere System, Present<em>

"... and that was everything. After that, the world turned black, and I heard this voice speaking." Meia said "But I find that somewhat strange. The last time, we at least _knew_ where each other was... but this time, I couldn't see any of the others."

Currently, she, BC, Magno, Duelo and Hibiki were gathered in the briefing room, discussion the 'dream' the two pilots had had.

"Hmmm... this is... disturbing, at least." Magno said thoughtfully, resting her chin on her hands. "And you are sure, that the Paksis has nothing to do with this?"

Duelo looked at the Captain, shaking his head "I haven't noticed anything strange about the Paksis, although Parfait would be more suitable, to find out _if_ there was something."

"The problem is, that she, Dita, Jura and Misty still are on Mejere, together with Barnette." BC said "We should call them back immediately."

"I don't know what exactly is going on, but I too would like to have everyone aboard, should we need to sortie." Meia agreed.

"Well, then let's c-..." Magno started, but stopped as her eyes fell onto Hibiki "Is something wrong, young one?"

Everyone turned their attention towards the boy, who looked pale, if only slightly. He shook his head slowly, but it was obvious that something bothered him.

"Did Meia forget to mention anything, about this dream? Or perhaps, do you know why you couldn't see each other?" the captain asked the young pilot, who gulped.

"No... she didn't forget anything... but... I think I know why we couldn't see the other..." Hibiki hesitantly answered "Meia... you said you saw that from above, right?"

"Yes." came the short reply from the dread-leader.

"Well... I didn't..." the vanguard pilot said "I... was _inside_ that guy..."

The captain's eyes widened, as if she realized something, but before anyone could say a word, Ezra's voice spoke up over the inter-comm.

"Captain! We've received a distress-call from a ship called "Sunrise" from the Navy of Melan! They're being boarded by some strange things!" she exclaimed, as she patched the communication line through to the briefing room.

All they could hear, were explosions, men and women screaming, someone talking in the front, possibly the one who send out the call, but it was too noisy to understand a single word. However, there was one sound, that could be heard over all the noise. A loud, terrifying screech, then the line collapsed.

Meia paled, recognizing the sound they just had heard, while Hibiki grabbed his stomach with a groan, and threw up, sliding out of his seat. The moment his body touched the floor, he was already unconscious.

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><p>R&amp;R please!<p>

Until next time!


	3. The first Crystal

**VanDread: Forgotten Memories**

Oh man, so long since I last have been able to work on any of my stories...

Anyway, here we go with the second Chapter of Forgotten Memories!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The first Crystal<strong>

_Freighter Mantra V, Shulak System, on the other side of the magnetic storm, Present_

Captain Molask couldn't quite believe what was happening. An hour ago, they were about to enter the magnetic storm on their way toward the Solar System that housed Taraak and Mejere, but suddenly an unknown vessel had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and oppened fire on the Mantra V. Never had the captain or his crew seen the kind of weapons that were used against them, easily vaporizing the shields of the freighter, leaving it without its main-source of defense. What little weaponry the small ship had, proved ineffective against the larger aggressor, who in turn was quick to disable the weapons of the melanian ship, before sending out large shuttles to board the cargo vessel.

Now, the crew of the Mantra V was anything but inexperienced, when it came to boarding actions by pirates, in fact they were known as the ship with the highest chance of successfully delivering cargo through pirate infested sectors. But what opposed them today, was nothing they ever could have been prepared for.

Out of the shuttles, figures wearing blood-red full-body armor with a gray wolf on it, emerged, shooting the instant they saw a member of the melanian crew. Streams of high-ionized gas traveled through the air in the hangar, and soon all over the ship, burning its way through anything it came in contact with. Losses among the defenders were increasing drastically, with their laser-based rifles showing no signs of effect on the heavy armor the enemy wore. Explosives, while being able to knock the enemy of their feet, did not bring the desired effect either, only gaining the defending men and women a few moments to catch their breath.

Soon, the ship was almost completely under control of the attacking forces, only the captain himself, and two of the bridge-crew were left, crouching behind the consoles in the room to avoid getting hit by the enemy. Their struggle was desperate, and both defenders and attackers knew that, but the captain did not give up, leaning out of cover to fire his personal, modified laser-pistol at one of the armored figures.

"Take this you bastard!" he yelled as he aimed, and pulled the trigger. With a loud, buzzing sound, his pistol unleashed all its might onto the target, pushing the aggressor back a little, but doing no significant damage to the heavily armored assailant.

Shocked, from seeing his attack having not the desired effect even at full power, the captain reacted to slow, as another trigger got pulled from the invaders side. A blast of the ionized gas hit his head with full force, melting it down in a matter of seconds.

The remaining two, terrified by that sight, threw their weapons away, put their hands behind their heads, and slowly got up, surrendering to their opponents. They were met with two blasts of the same weapons that took the lives of so many of their comrades, falling onto the ground, their lives taken away from them as their chests started to melt.

"Finally..." the leading attacker grunted, voice distorted by the armor. With a swift move, the helmet was removed, revealing the scarred face of a woman in her mid-forties, long brown hair framing her face, as she reached for an object attached to the belt of the armor, and took it into her hand, holding it toward her face.

"Interceptor, this is the ground team. We've cleared the freighter and will being preparations for phase two." she said, calling the ship that had carried them here.

"Understood ground team. Interceptor will return to base. Make sure you don't damage that damn target ship too much, okay? It's unique and we'll get a lot of cash if we bring it back unharmed." the reply came after a few seconds.

"Copy that Interceptor. We'll see you once the job's done." the woman sighed after she closed the connection.

"Damnit! We're bounty hunters, not some dirty pirates..." a man to her left growled, to which she replied with a laugh.

"Well yeah, but you know... _they_ put a _very_ high bounty on the people aboard that ship after what happened to their beloved shit-fleet. Anyway! Okay listen you bastards! Target's supposed to move through here within the next few days, reacting to the distress signal of that ship the bugs got! We'll ask for their assistance after we've barely survived an attack by pirates, and require technical and medical support here! I want this ship here in an even worse condition, so we can reason we need to evac to their ship! After that, team three will take out their engineering, team two the canteen and the infirmary! One will go with me and we'll take their bridge! Take actions as you see them fit! And this time, take god-damn prisoners! We'll get more money for each of their crew-members that lives through this, so I think it's in our all interest to subdue and capture as many as possible! Go Wolves!"

And with that, the assailants, now identified as a bounty-hunter group called 'Wolves', started to make preparations.

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><p><em>Nirwana briefing room, in the magnetic storm, three days after Hibiki collapsed<em>

"Duelo... how is he?" BC asked the doctor, who had sat in his chair silently for most of the meeting.

"He is... still not regaining consciousness, and I can not comprehend why. I've checked his medical condition several times, and I could not detect anything wrong with him." Duelo sighed, concerned about the fact that he had not been able to help Hibiki in his current state.

"A shame... I have a feeling that we have rough times ahead yet again, and the boy will be needed out there." Magno said, resting her chin on her hands. "Well, we just will have to have faith in him, and believe that he will wake up when we need the VanDreads out there."

"I really wish I could do anything... as a doctor, I should be able to at least do something, but Hibiki's perfectly healthy..." Duelo said, sinking into his thoughts again.

"Parfet? Did you see anything related to the Paksis, that could be the cause of this, as well as what Meia and Hibiki described a few days ago?" BC turned her attention to the head-engineer, who shook her head.

"There was nothing wrong with the Paksis back then, and neither is there now... Everything's fine on our end."

"Great..." the vice-commander muttered, turning her attention to the remaining girls in the room.

"Any of you having experienced something since then? Something that could bring light into this?"

Meia was the first to reply "Regrettably, no, I haven't had any kind of dreams or visions like that again. It has all been too silent these past few days."

"Why was leader the only one who shared a dream with Uchuujin-san anyway?" Dita quietly complained. It seemed, that as of lately, whenever something happened to her Uchuujin-san, she wasn't there to help in any possible way, which really started to frustrate to usually cheery redhead.

Misty, sitting next to Meia, shook her head as well. She had no idea what was happening, and even less what could be done to help Hibiki.

"Maybe it's just a _man_-thing?" Jura said, shrugging her shoulders. The blonde could tell that it was greatly affecting most, if not all girls in this room. After all, she didn't show it often, but she was more than just looks.

"If that would be the case, I think Duelo would have found an answer already." BC calmly stated.

"What about you, Barnette, any ideas ab-... Barnette? Where did she go?" the Captain asked, surprised that no one had noticed the green haired woman leaving the room.

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><p><em>Nirvana, Hallways<em>

'Damnit... why do I have this feeling something bad is about to happen?' Barnette thought to herself, as she hurried through the ship, heading for her room. Her instincts told her that something big was about to happen, and she knew she'd need her weapons for that.

A small smile crept onto her face, as another thought entered her mind 'At least that should mean I'll get some close-quarter combat again! Can't wait for it!'

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><p><em>Nirvana, Infirmary, inside Hibiki's mind<em>

Someone was shaking him, trying to wake him up, which deeply annoyed the boy. He grunted, and turned over to his other side, muttering about wanting to be left alone, as a voice cut through his drowsiness.

"Hibiki! You need to get up and listen to me! Now!" the pleasant, yet experienced feminine voice said close to his head, startling the boy as his head jerked up, eyes now wide.

Taking a moment to look at his surroundings, he eventually turned toward the voice, freezing the moment he saw its origin. A tall, black haired woman wearing military boots, shorts and a vest, which left most of her skin exposed. Not to mentioned the unbelievable amount of weapons and grenades attached to her clothing.

'Man... all these weapons would definitely make Barnette drool...' he thought, before hearing the woman groan.

"Stay focused Hibiki! Now's not the time to think about women!" she replied angrily, making Hibiki jump.

'SHE CAN READ MY MIND?!' he screamed in thoughts, causing another groan from the woman.

"Name's Samantha, and yes I can read your mind. And no, that's no magic... but I have no time to explain... at least not now! Listen, you're in danger! In fact, the whole ship is in danger! You're about to be attacked by enemies you cannot handle in your current state!" she said, hoping to get the boy to focus.

"What? Come on! We've beaten the harvester guys, what could be worse than those guys?!" he replied, oblivious to the fact that the person infront of him was starting to lose her temper.

"Just shut up and listen for now! When you'll wake up, you'll most-likely only have a few minutes to get ready! Warning your captain will not work, as by the time you would be able to react, the enemy will already have a great advantage! So you must do the following..." the woman said, this time finally getting the boy to get serious.

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><p><em>A few minutes later<em>

Hibiki coughed slightly as he got up from the bed in the infirmary, for a short moment wondering why no one was around, then remembered his strange dream from just now.

"I know this probably won't happen anyway... but I think I've got nothing to lose..." he muttered to himself, as he lifted himself of the bed, growling slightly at the fact how groggy he felt right now, and walked out of the infirmary, heading toward the old section of the ship, the still not reactivated part, to be exact.

Not reactivated for the simple fact, that the whole area was separated from the rest of the ship by an old blast-door, which no matter what, Parfet didn't manage to get to open, and explosives were too dangerous to use there.

Once he arrived at the blast-door, Hibiki looked at the rusty piece of metal, and he could swear he could make out the outlines of something carved into the door. Probably only the number of the door, as it surely was normal back then, so people knew at which part of the ship they were, and to give the captain a better overview, should something happen in these sectors.

Feeling dumb for actually doing so, Hibiki moved his right hand to rest upon the console next to the door, looking at it as if he was waiting for some magical energy to open the door, just from his hand lying there.

His arm started to twitch, surprising the boy as he no longer had control over his right arm and hand, the console suddenly activated, and his hand typing in some kind of command, to which a low robotic voice replied 'Acknowledged', and the door oppened.

The young humans jaw dropped in surprise, seeing all this, but nonetheless started to move through the door, which then shut behind him, causing him to look at it in surprise once again, only to find himself shocked as he saw, that this side of the door, as well as the rest of the section of the ship didn't look rusty and old at all. His eyes fell onto the letters carved into the door, and for some reason, he felt the urge to read out loud, what he saw.

"A.F.S.S A.F... Alliance of Free Solar Systems, Armed Forces..." he read, having troubles to move away from the door, to do what he came here for. Eventually though, he managed to look away from the door, and began walking down the corridor until he stopped infront of a door that said 'Research Cargo Bay'.

With a bit of force, he pushed the door open and slipped in, immediately blinded by green light emitting from an object in a cube of glass. It stood on a small podium, a backpack, two strange guns, and some strange combination of an gauntlet and two swords lying neatly around the cube.

"What the hell is that thing?" Hibiki exclaimed, though for some reason, he thought he already knew the answer.

Just then, he heard a voice in his head.

_'That, Hibiki, is a Crystal of Emeran, and the reason you walked here.'_ the voice, which sounded oddly enough like the 'Samantha' from his dream, said, stunning the boy once more.

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><p><em>Freighter Mantra V, on the other side of the magnetic storm<em>

"Boss! Target's leaving the storm!" one of the armored figures told the woman in charge, who smirked cruelly, before putting her helmet back on.

"Tell them of our... _situation_... and prepare to have some fun." she almost laughed as she said that, looking out of a window at the side of the captured vessel, eyes narrowing on the elegant silver object of their desire.

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><p>R&amp;R please!<p>

Until next time!


	4. Memories Part 1

**VanDread: Forgotten Memories**

Since it's been so long that I posted the Prologue and the 1st Chapter, I thought about making a quick release of the 3rd Chapter shortly after the 2nd!

But please, do not expect me to be able to keep updating the story this fast.

It was a one-time thing.

Now, have fun with the 3rd chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Memories Part 1<strong>

_Nirvana, Bridge_

"Captain! We've just received another distress-call! The freighter _Mantra V _requests permission to come aboard! They've been attacked by pirates and their life-support-systems are failing! They also request medical assistance, as well as technical assistance to repair their ship so they can get past the magnetic storm!" Ezra summed up, as the Captain arrived on the bridge, having been called there from the meeting by Ezra.

Magno narrowed her eyes, before nodding at BC, who looked up at her.

BC then turned toward Ezra "Tell them they've got our permission, and that we'll be preparing our medical staff."

Ezra nodded, relaying the information to the crippled vessel floating in space ahead of them.

"This really does look bad..." BC muttered, inspecting the freighter from afar. It looked like there was severe damage to several parts of the hull, as well some less serious, but still heavy damage to other parts of the cargo ship. The vice-commander was impressed that the freighter was still in one piece, to be honest.

"Keep your eyes on the scanners! I want to know if someone moves into our range immediately!" BC commanded, watching as the bridge-crew followed the orders.

Opening a line on the inter-comm, BC spoke to the crew.

"Attention everyone! We'll be receiving injured men and women of an freighter that send a distress-call! Prepare the infirmary and get some security teams down to the hangar!"

While that all was happening, Magno was watching the two shuttles that left the hangar of the shuttle.

'These shuttles... they look heavily armored... why would they need such shuttles?' she thought to herself, as doubt about the other parties motives started to spread in her mind. 'A good thing BC ordered the security teams down there as well...'

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><p><em>Nirvana, Barnette's room<em>

Barnette narrowed her eyes as she heard the announcement from the vice-commander.

'So this is it...' she thought, growing excited at the prospect of a battle ahead. Her instincts told her, that the people approaching weren't actually coming to make friends. The green haired woman grinned, as she grabbed an M16 and two Beretta M9 from her stash of firearms, before leaving her room to head toward the hangars, to 'greet' their guests.

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><p><em>Nirvana, Infirmary<em>

"Where did Uchuujin-san go?" Dita asked, as she looked around in the room, Duelo looking surprised that the boy had woken and left while he wasn't there. And then there was the fact that he could not see Paiway either.

"Dita, Misty, go look for him. He's probably just at the canteen, stuffing himself." Meia said absentmindedly. This wasn't good! She got a very bad feeling about whatever caused Hibiki to leave the infirmary, but she pushed that feeling aside, focusing on her duty as dread-leader, and headed down to the hangar as well.

Misty and Dita, following Meia's order, left the infirmary to Duelo, the canteen their destination.

Jura sighed, she was getting a headache from all this. But on the other hand, she now was alone with a man. Alone in a room. With plenty of beds. A small smile appeared on her face, but quickly faded as Paiway entered the infirmary, heading straight for Duelo and engaging in a conversation about the preparations for the infirmary.

The blonde pouted, another chance missed, but maybe she could find someone among the people who they were planning on taking aboard to take care of them. Her smile once again appearing, she looked down at herself, after confirming that she looked stunning as always, she left for the hangar.

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><p><em>Nirvana, Old Section, Research Cargo Bay<em>

Hibiki was still shocked from hearing the voice he thought he only had imagined, in his wakened state. The announcement from the vice-commander came from the far end of the corridor, from the other side of the blast-door. It was almost completely muffled, but his instincts, and the voice in his head told him that this was it. That the attack was going to happen.

_'I want you to listen to me once again, Hibiki. All you need to do, is open the glass-cube, and touch the Crystal. I promise it won't hurt, and you'll feel better after taking it... also, you will... remember.' _Samantha's voice rang in his head.

The boy groaned "How come I keep hearing you? And why should I do as you say?"

_'If you take the crystal, it will be explained. As for your second question... don't you want to protect your friends?' _

"'Course I want to protect them! They're my friends!" Hibiki replied angrily.

_'THEN DON'T ARGUE WITH ME AND TAKE THE FUCKING CRYSTAL YOU IDIOT!'_ Samantha yelled in the boys head, causing him to fall over and holding his hands over his ears.

"That hurt..." he complained, but got up again, and hesitantly opened the hatch ontop of the cube, before reaching in, and touching the crystal. Light flash from the green crystal, and Hibiki started to feel groggy.

* * *

><p><em>Inside Hibiki's mind<em>

Hibiki groaned as he once again found himself at the place where he had met 'Samantha' before. And again, she was there, waiting for him with a kind smile. Only now, did he notice her looks, and to his own surprise, thought her to be quite appealing to the eye.

She looked directly into his eyes, her cheeks getting a slight red color as she giggled. "You musn't have such thoughts, Hibiki. At least not toward me."

Now it was Hibiki's turn to blush, quick to apologize, before catching himself and looking at her. "Why am I here now?"

In reply to his question, she only pointed behind him. The boy turned around, and in the distance could see what seemed to be pictures and videos, moving in his direction with a very fast speed.

"Oh man... is that gonna hurt?" he asked quietly, and as he got no reply, turned around, only to find out, that Samantha had vanished somewhere.

"Great... and what the hell happens now?" Hibiki groaned, turning to face the approaching pictures and videos.

Nothing could ever have prepared him for what happened next.

* * *

><p><em>Shuttle 1, approaching the Nirvana<em>

"Okay everyone, you know the drill! We want to get as many of them alive as possible! So switch your damn guns to a lower energy level, if you haven't done so already! We can't get the bounty if we have nothing to prove that they are dead if you shoot them with all you've got!" the leader commanded, speaking into a secure comm-line that could be heard in the other shuttle, but was nearly impossible to decode. At least with the technological level of Taraak or Mejere.

And so, the bounty-hunters aboard the two shuttles, 32 in numbers, prepared for non-lethal combat as they approached the now open hangar of the Nirvana.

* * *

><p><em>Inside Hibiki's mind<em>

Hibiki was shocked, surprised, and in awe at what he saw. The pictures and 'videos' that hit him, where memories of someone! And soon he could also figure out whom they belonged to! It was quite a shock for the Vanguard pilot to see his own memories, thinks he could not recall ever having done, yet, without a doubt knew that they were his!

There were memories of him fighting in full-body armor, using the weapons he recalled were lying next to the cube. Styles of hand-to-hand combat he thought impossible to perform, things he could never imagine himself to say, or do. And yet, that all felt really familiar the moment he saw it.

Then, one of the most important bits of information, he figured, appeared.

"_Tokai... are you sure about this? I mean, we've got Class 4 or 5 AI's ready! The first generation is just too unstable!" a man in military uniform said, looking pleadingly at Hibiki._

"_Sir, I am sure about this. The first generation is not unstable. They are just very powerful. So powerful, that people have trouble controlling them. Let me try it Sir! The firsts are still the best we ever made!" Hibiki replied seriously, looking back at the man in the military uniform, who then sighed._

"_Fine... tech sarge! Let him in the configuration room!" the man shouted at a man on a console next to a double-reinforced window, that let them look into the 'configuration room'. Gulping, the man did as ordered, and opened the door, letting Hibiki in._

_On a small podium in the center of the room, a small chip lay, connected to the electrical systems of the research facility they currently were in. Over the loudspeaker, he heard the tech sarge's voice. From that alone, Hibiki knew that the man was honestly scared._

"_O-okay... Generation 1 AI chip in place... beginning configuration sequence. Please step onto the platform to your left." the shaky voice of the man behind the window came, and Hibiki sighed silently, following the orders._

_Then, a robotic voice spoke up "Initializing scan for personality reference."_

_Hibiki, the tech sarge and the man in uniform all froze at the same time. This wasn't supposed to happen!_

"_Admiral! Sir! I-I..." the tech sarge exclaimed "I can't do anything! The AI took over the system!"_

"_WHAT?!" the uniformed man bellowed, not that it would have changed anything._

"_TOKAI! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" the admiral yelled, but the sarge replied swiftly._

"_Sir, he can't get out. The AI has the whole system under control... it's locked him inside."_

"_Damnit..." the admiral muttered "I knew this was a mistake, Tokai..."_

_Hibiki calmed down relatively quickly. Soon behind the podium with the AI chip, a hologram flickered into life. The hologram, thanks to the technology of the holo-emitters, soon took a rather physical form, through which you no longer could look. A tall woman, with long black hair, amethyst colored eyes, wearing military boots, shorts and a vest, leaving most of the skin of the AI exposed. The sheer amount of weapons the woman was carrying though, unsettled the people in the other room, as the woman narrowed her eyes on Hibiki._

"_I am War-AI 578221. And who are you, that you dare think you can order me around?" she asked, her voice full of venom._

"_I'm Hibiki Tokai. And I'm not here to give you orders." he replied, ignoring the two people outside the configuration room, and also surprising the AI in front of him._

"_Oh? Then if you don't want to control me, what else could you want of an War-AI?" she asked, a bit of venom had left her voice, but she still did not trust the young human infront of her._

"_I came here, because I wanted to ask for your help." Hibiki replied calmly._

"_Ask for _my_ help?" She laughed "I don't think so!"_

"_Please, I ask you to consider it. There is a war going on out there, millions of innocent people dying every day! We are losing... But... now we think we have a chance... our military has launched a new program, that might help us to finally turn the tides in this war, and save countless lives! In order to help them... I need an AI." Hibiki said._

_The woman rose an eyebrow "You guys already have four other generations of AI's you could use. Get one of those to help you, stupid human!"_

"_No." he stated._

"_What?!" a low growl escaped the woman's throat._

"_I said no." the boy repeated himself._

"_You little shitty human! Don't you dare talk back to me! If you don't want to die now, then-..." she started, but got interrupted by the boy._

"_I said no, because the AI's of the generations two to five are good... but I need the BEST! This team has to be made of the BEST soldiers and AI's we can offer! THAT is why I ask you, and not one of those 'okay' AI's! Yes, you of the first are hard to handle, but I do believe that only to be the case, because they think they can control you! I don't believe I can control you! I KNOW I CAN'T! And because of that, I am ASKING you, if you'd be WILLING to help us in our moments of need! It is very well possible, that right now, YOU have the lives of billions, if not more, people in your virtual hands! So I b-" Hibiki said, but it then was his turn to be interrupted._

_She laughed. The woman laughed. Hibiki lowered his head in defeat. He had tried to convince an AI he knew no one could possibly hope to handle._

"_At least let me leave... please." he stated, turning toward the door and started to move._

"_No can do." she replied in a voice way to cheerful._

"_What?!" he asked, shocked. This was turning worse with every second!_

"_Silly boy..." she laughed once more "You expect me to help you, and yet you want to leave without completing the configuration?"_

_Hibiki stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening._

_In the control room, the tech sarge and the admiral looked at each other, equally shocked._

"_You agree?!/She agreed?!" three voices sounded, and were answered by the laugh of the woman._

"_You've gained my interest. Now let's see if you can keep up to my expectations... partner." she said, extending her hologram's hand towards Hibiki, who was not the least surprised to find out he actually could grab her hand._

_Smile's spread across both their faces, as the woman said one final sentence._

"_By the way... call me... Samantha."_

A smile spread on Hibiki's face as that memory left him, so he could regain others as well. Within a short span of time, he figured he had most of the important memories back, but knew there were quite a lot missing. But he didn't care about that. Right now, he was happy that his memories about his military training, and about Samantha were back.

If he remembered correctly, a War-AI was very unique. Easily the most powerful AI out there, capable of all forms of combat, able to make incredibly strategical and tactical decisions, as well as powerful Cyber-War. And of course, the basics every AI could do, like performing scans of the area, delivering messages to allied forces and such.

"Sam?" he called out, now a lot calmer about all this than before.

"Yes, Hibiki?" Samantha asked, reappearing behind him, quite happy that her partner remembered her now.

"Two things... the memory about how you got into my head... I'll get that back as well?" he asked.

"Eventually, when you find the crystal where it's stored at." she replied.

"Good... 'cause I really wonder how we did that... the other thing..." he could sense her almost shiver as his old self took over, a predatory smile spreading across his face "Let's hunt some bounty-hunters."

* * *

><p>Finally we see some action coming up!<p>

Are you all ready to see what Hibiki will pull out of his arsenal?

Now that he finally regained some of his memories, what will the others think when they get confronted with all this?

Not spoilering on that, so you'll have to wait for the appropriate chapters!

R&R please!

Until next time!


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